Very sad day today. Wee Marcos – 7-year old son of Mabel that cuts my hair – died this morning. He had a severe form of diabetes and had felt unwell on Thursday so they decided to take him to hospital. He walked there. On Friday he took a turn for the worst and they called me to the hospital. It was so very sad to see this wee boy, who normally runs around so actively, lying there with so many tubes. The tragic thing for the poor people who live in our sectors is that these moments only mean one thing: what can we sell to pay for the treatment. And that was what the conversation revolved around that morning in the waiting room. I left them saying that I would be on hand for whatever: I asked everyone at the weekend Masses to pray for him. Sadly though he passed away through last night. Don’t know when eth funeral will be but I have already said some prayers at his coffin. The whole story really is tragic and is copied through many families here. The father went away to Spain to work and send money back to the poor family in Ecuador. However, as well as work, he found another woman and will not be back here. Marcos was their only son. Please say some prayers for Marcos and for his parents.
On a lighter note, we took a Parish pilgrimage to Nobol yesterday – about 550 of us (11 buses). Nobol is a village about 45 minutes from our town and is associated with Narcisa de Jesus who this October will be proclaimed a saint by Pope Benedict. Because of the desire of so many people to go to Nobol this year, the Diocese decided to allocate each Parish a specific date. Ours was yesterday and we shared the day with seven other Parishes of our area. I was asked to be the main celebrant and, with Tito up in the choir loft on the music, we had a lively and enthusiastic liturgy. Afterwards we walked the three kilometers to the place where Narcisa used to give her religion classes to the young kids. It is by a riverside and was an opportunity for our pilgrims to have a rest, lunch and a dip in the river. It was another opportunity to do some dives, although the bank was quite muddy so there was a bit of slip-sliding ….
The two chapels are coming on – La Paz and Maestro. There are two separate teams on each project _ I’m sure you worked that out. And, although they are different designs – one is a two storey and the other is on the ground – they are proceeding at the same pace. Both took greater shape this week – walls and windows can now be seen through the bricks. So am quiet excited that we might see it all ended by end of June. Having said that, one thing I have learnt is not to rush and architect and his team!
This weekend Ecuador (and I think other Latin American countries) go wild for Mothers’ Day. People travel this country to visit their mother or to pray at their mother’s grave. At all masses and at the school there were all sorts of celebrations, raffles and presents for mothers. I’m sure we might have something tonight at the big Mass in the Parish Church. The curious thing is that idea behind it is slightly different from Scotland. In Scotland the idea of Mother’s Day is “Mum, we love you so much; you have worked so hard all year for us; take a rest and we’ll cook dinner today!” Whereas here it seems to be “Mum, we love you so much; you have worked so hard all year for us; let us show you how much we love you by eating this big slap-up meal you are about to prepare for us while I go out and have a few drinks with my mates”!!!!!
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